Beware, the white stiletto is back!

By CLAIRE COLEMAN

Last updated at 11:35 15 January 2007

Yes really, white stilettos are back for spring. Ignore them at your peril. White heels will be an essential part of this years wardrobe.

Not so very long ago, white stilettos were the chavs of the shoe world, the Burberry-clad, shell-suited Vicky Pollards of footwear. Irrepressibly 80s, they were associated inexplicably with Essex, Ford Cortinas, girls called Sharon, dodgy pop bands, Babycham, lower division footballers wives and jokes about women who wore knickers to keep their ankles warm.

Not any more. Oh, no, cast aside your prejudices about the shoe that once screamed 'slapper¹, because this season the former nadir of naff is set to be the epitome of elegant fashion. Don't believe us? To be fair we don't blame you, but take a look at the evidence.

The celebs are always a trusty barometer of a new look and when everyone from the prim and proper Rachel Bilson to moody, mouthy Peaches Geldof is working the white stiletto look, it's time to sit up and take notice. And they're not the only ones. Jennifer Lopez and Paris Hilton have also been blatantly disregarding the old etiquette that one should never wear white

shoes after Labor Day, (no, we don¹t know why such a rule should exist in the first place either).

And, it goes without saying that the only reason they¹re all doing the white shoe shuffle is because every top cobbler worth his last last [CORR]is showcasing a snow white pump in their collection. From Stuart Weitzman¹s Kiss, a white satin stiletto pump, and Fendi¹s white patent peep toes to Jimmy Choo¹s Empire, Manolo Blahnik¹s cut out white leather pump, and

Needless to say, faster than you can say scotchguard, the fashion has filtered down onto the high street with Top Shop¹s Pointed Turn Up White Court and Office¹s Cave Block Court fighting for wardrobe space alongside Aldo¹s White Patent Guillemina.

So shoe queens, it¹s time to sacrifice your long-held snobbery and embrace the white stiletto.

Just one word of warning: don¹t team them with a mini skirt or stonewashed jeans ­you want to look fashion forward, not fashion throwback.